The Chieftain, 12th Avenue’s new Irish pub near Seattle U, is ready to open its doors today, according to our sister site Capitol Hill Seattle.

The long anticipated opening of the controversial Chieftain Pub near Seattle University at 908 12th Avenue is finally here, and it will have its grand opening Friday, August 19th.

Peter Johnson and his crew have been working for over 6 months to transform the old Doc Hastings night club into a new Irish pub for the Capitol Hill community, and the place is a wonderful homage to the past, to Ireland and to its namesake, the Chieftain.

As we reported in April, the Chieftain takes its name from the Irish clan leaders, and there is a tradition of naming Irish pubs “The Chieftain.” However, the name is also a reference to Seattle U’s former mascot, which was changed in 2000 after being deemed inappropriate.

The pub’s plan is to pick up the lunch crowd and provide a good happy hour for college students, Johnson told CDN in April. According to CHS, the Happy Hour will go all-day on Mondays:

This new Irish pub will feature Happy Hour all day Monday and Tue-Fri 3-6pm and will have special events such as Tuesday night Trivia contests, Thursday Karaoke and Saturday nights live music.

I took a look at the menu and it seems evenly divided between American and Irish food, including Guinness Beef Stew, Shepherds Pie, Bangers and Mash, Whiskey Crab Soup and something called “Irish Nachos” which substitutes fried potato slices for the corn chips.

Johnson also owns Finn MacCool’s in the U District and McGilvra’s in Madison Park.